Peshawar occupies a region that was dominated by various tribal groups of Indo-Iranian origin and a variety of other groups, possibly of Dravidian origin, maybe prior to invasion of Aryantribes and their settlement.

The Peshawar 'Saddar' (Cantonment) is a sapciously laid out neat and clean township with avenues of tall trees, wide tarred roads, large single-storeyed houses with large lawns and a pervading scent of rare shrubs and flowers that is Peshawar's own.

The Peshawar of the hoary past is the old city, the Peshawar of the British period (1849-1947) is the Cantonment but the Peshawar of independent Pakistan is the vast extension of the city west and east.

You may travel by road from Peshawar via Jamrud Fort, low stony hills capped with pickets manned by Khyber Rifles, Ali Masjid and the fort, insignia of the regiments that have served in the Khyber, remains of Sphola stupa of Buddhist period (2nd-5th centuries A.D.), Landikotal Bazaar and to the border post at Torkham.

You can also drive to or from Swat to peshawar about 190 kilometers which is a green valley in the foothills of hindukush mountains.

The Peshawar "Sadder" (Cantonment) is a spaciously laid out neat and clean township with avenues of tall trees, wide tarred roads, large single storied houses with lawns and a pervading scent of rare shrubs and flowers that is Peshawar's own.

Rice, sugar-cane and tobacco are the rich cash-crops of the well-watered Peshawarvalley through which flows the Kabul River and at the end of which the mighty Indus forms the district boundary for 48 1/2 Kms (30miles),the two joining near the historic Attock fort.

Peshawar lost its glory with the demise of the Kushan dynasty in the 6th century AD and remained a forgotten town for a thousand years till the Mughals discovered its strategic value, when Babur built a fort there in 1530.

Today, Peshawar is the capital of NWFP and is the most exciting city of Pakistan for its ancient ambience and romantic history of the proud pathan tribesmen who repulsed all attackers with their brave spirit, noble courage and undeniable faith.

Torkham is 55 kilometers from Peshawar and it is served by a metalled road, however, a trip to Torkham takes nearly three hours due to hair-pin bends and steep gradients on the route.

Peshawar is located approximately forty miles from the Afghan border and more than two hundred refugee villages are found in the city’s environs (UNHCR, 2000).

The absence of aid for refugees residing in cities further reinforces the GoP notion that refugees living in Peshawar and elsewhere are self-sufficient, undeserving of assistance and existing as economic migrants.

Once Afghans choose to enter Peshawar, they are left with the decision either to settle in refugee villages, where they would benefit from international aid, or to remain independent and live elsewhere.

Even to people from other parts of Pakistan, the city of Peshawar is a massive assault on the senses, from the smell of burning rubbish to the sight of severed lambs' heads to the sound of constantly blaring car horns.

Many of Peshawar's problems stem from the huge influx of Afghan refugees -- at least 1.5-million in the past 20 years -- but some of them are simply due to being the oldest city (ag e 2,500) in a young country (age 54) that has little money for urban renewal.

Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Peshawar was developing a tourism industry based on its proximity to the Khyber Pass.

But the pride of Peshawar today is its University of Peshawar, a vast sprawling garden town of red brick buildings and velvet lawns, which comprises a dozen departments and Colleges of Law, Medicine, Engineering and Forestry.

The Peshawar "Saddar" (Cantonment) is a spaciously laid out neat and clean township with avenues of tall trees, wide tarred roads, large single-storied houses with lawns and a pervading scent of rare shrubs and flowers that is Peshawar's own.

The Sarhad became part of larger Islamic empires including the Ghaznavid Empire and the empire of Muhammad of Ghaur and was nominally controlled by the Delhi Sultanate and Ilkhantate Empire of the Mongols.

The Mosque Mahabat Khan, Peshawar’s outstanding architecture legacy, in Jeweller’s Bazar was constructed by the Governor of Peshawar Mahabat Khan Mirza Lerharsib, in 1630 during the era of the Mughal Emperor ShahJehan.

Afghan refugees who came to Peshawar as a result of Soviet occupation have added yet another dimension in the character of the city in general this bazaar in particular where they can be seen doing business from exchanging money to selling Kehwa.

In a grand Victorian hall, the Peshawar Museum houses one of the world’s best collection of Gandhara art, including stupas depicting the Buddha’sstupas collection presents a clear picture of life of PeshawarValley during first four centuries A.D when Peshawar was the capital of a vast empire.

However, it is when the author of the fictional narrative tries to overstep the bounds of fiction and confer upon his work the appearance of historical authenticity, that his work loses the respectable designation “literary fiction”, and earns for itself the ignominious epithet “literary hoax”.

In the book “Peshawar Nights”, whose author is styled as “Sultan al-Wa‘izin Shirazi”, we have an example of a work which purports to be the record of a Sunni-Shi‘i debate.

It is highly unlikely that there was a Persian language newspaper in Peshawar, or in the rest of India for that matter, at the time of the alleged debate.

www.ansar.org /english/beshawer.htm (3940 words)

::: Pa Khair Raghley :::(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-20)

Peshawar enjoys tremendous historical, Military and political importance.